England Under-21 skipper Steven Taylor has been told to cut out "crap" performances in a candid message from boss Sam Allardyce.
The young defender was frozen out of Allardyce's squad for the win against Spurs, not even making the bench, and has yet to agree a new deal with the club.
Taylor was heroic for his country at Euro 2007 but has suffered at club level under Allardyce, paying the price for Newcastle's 3-1 defeat at Manchester City, along with Czech stopper David Rozenhal.
Allardyce has ordered Taylor to learn from United's Brazilian stopper Claudio Cacapa and the way he uses brain rather than brawn to snuff out danger.
Big Sam reckons he now has the strength in depth to axe stars - even if their performances dip for just one game.
Four Allardyce summer signings, Habib Beye, Cacapa, Abdoulaye Faye and Jose Enrique are now the first choice defence.
Newcastle are looking to build on their strongest start for 10 years by beating Reading tomorrow and asked about Taylor's future, Allardyce said: "It's not about me dropping players, it's about players dropping themselves because they played crap at Manchester City. If you play that badly, you're likely to lose your shirt. That's not just Steven Taylor - it's most of the back four on that day. One poor performance can cost you. It's frustrating and disappointing for the player in question, but that's the nature of the game. Steven trains his hardest every day and of course he will be frustrated. Basic repetitive training is the answer, particularly for defenders. That hasn't happened too much in the past here. No disrespect to previous Newcastle managers, but it doesn't look as though it has. The perfect example for Steven is Claudio Cacapa. He's not as quick as Steven, not as young but his brain gets him in to positions before the forwards. He makes it look simple. That's one of the big things to learn as a defender - reading the game."
22 10 2007
Newcastle United manager Sam Allardyce has revealed that he is bracing himself for the African Nations Cup, and may be forced into activity in the January transfer window.
The Magpies are likely to be without the services of skipper Geremi, defenders Habib Beye and Abdoulaye Faye and striker Obafemi Martins due to the African Nations Cup after Christmas.
Although Allardyce won't be alone in losing players to the competition, he admits he'll have to do some business in January to plug the gap.
He said: "I lose four, but most of the country loses a similar amount these days. I think there's only Manchester United who do not have an African Nations player playing. Most of the other teams do. It's a difficult period. The January window is something for me to talk about with Chris (Mort), the chairman, and try to plan for that as soon as we can and see what comes about."
The former Bolton man would rather not have to make any purchases in the mid-season transfer window, a system that he believes needs reviewing.
He said: "It's always difficult in January to buy players because you need a settling-in period and if you buy somebody in January, it would have to be instant. They would have to have an instant impact on the side, and that can sometimes be extremely difficult for the new player to that, and he can be judged very quickly if he does not live up to the expectation, and suffer because of that. That's why the system is flawed. I have said it since day one, and I have not changed my mind. It would be nice if somebody reviewed it and changed it, but I don't think they will."
09 10 2007
Newcastle's Abdoulaye Faye has revealed he turned down offers from three other Premier League clubs to be reunited with Sam Allardyce.
Faye moved to St James' Park on transfer deadline day from Bolton in a £2million deal.
The Senegal international claims he snubbed overtures from Manchester City, Everton and Wigan to sign for Newcastle.
Faye says the opportunity to play under Allardyce again played a major part in his decision to reject other offers to move to Tyneside.
"I had offers from other clubs, it wasn't just Newcastle," Faye told The Journal.
"Manchester City, Everton and Wigan all wanted me to join them, but I told them all, 'No, I would prefer to go to Newcastle and work with Sam again'. I felt that joining Newcastle would be the perfect move for me because this is such a big club - it's so different to Bolton. I'm pleased it all worked out. Newcastle is such a great club and things couldn't have gone better."
08 10 2007
Michael Owen is happy to play through the pain barrier for both club and country as he continues his amazing return from surgery.
The 27-year-old Newcastle striker made a typically influential return to action as a substitute against Everton just nine days after undergoing a first bout of surgery and eight after the second to score what proved to be the winner.
He will join up with the England squad on Tuesday ahead of the Euro 2008 qualifiers against Estonia and Russia insisting he is fully fit, but admitting he is still dealing with the after-effects of his visit to renowned German specialist Ulrike Muschaweck.
Owen said: "Everyone knows you can come back from surgery and play. It is just about managing the discomfort. That doesn't stop you from playing. The surgeon said as long as you can manage the pain, you can do what you want because it's not going to get any worse. Unbelievably, it feels great because I have been training since Thursday."
England boss Steve McClaren was in the crowd at St James' Park on Sunday to witness Owen's match-winning cameo, and can expect a call from Sam Allardyce outlining where he believes his £17million frontman is in terms of his recovery.
Allardyce diplomatically declined to reveal what he would tell McClaren, but the man himself is confident he is ready to resume his pivotal role in the qualification campaign, and his pursuit of Sir Bobby Charlton's goalscoring record.
He said: "The surgeon tells me nothing can go wrong in terms of the op. It is much stronger than when I went in. Believe it or not, that's how it feels. Even when I feel a bit tight like I did Wednesday or Thursday last week, you just plough through it and it gets better, if anything. I will listen to the surgeon and nobody else. She has performed thousands of operations before and she knows what she is talking about. I don't see any risk in me playing. It's not like I am pushing myself to get back and play for England. Everyone can see that coming back in eight days to play for my club shows a bit of determination, and I wanted to get out there against Everton. I am feeling good for both teams that I represent."
Newcastle dominated the first half and deservedly went ahead through Nicky Butt's 42nd-minute strike, the Magpies were pegged back by half-time substitute Andrew Johnson within eight minutes of his arrival, and then lost their way.
Indeed, had it not been for last-ditch blocks by Claudio Cacapa and Abdoulaye Faye to deny Victor Anichebe, they might have trailed going into the final 10 minutes.
But it was then that Owen started to make his mark.
Having already forced a smart save from Tim Howard down at the foot of his near post, it was his 86th-minute cross which was cleared to Emre, who took a touch before smashing a 25-yard drive into the bottom corner.
The Turkey international returned the favour on the stroke of the final whistle when he dropped a free-kick on to Owen's forehead, and he duly obliged with the help of the underside of the crossbar to wrap up the points.
In an eventful conclusion to the game, Shay Given could only help Mikel Arteta's deflected cross into his own net in injury time, but the damage had been done.
Given said: "I was disappointed with that, but luckily for me, it hasn't cost us any points. For us, it was important to take the three points because we have the international break. We are all going away for internationals and we didn't want to set off without getting the win. There is a big break and it was nice to get back to winning ways."
Everton boss David Moyes left the north-east a disappointed man having revealed that Johnson was due to undergo ankle surgery this morning, although he refused to blame Thursday night's UEFA Cup trip to Ukraine for a slow start by his side.
He said: "I don't know, I couldn't tell you the answer to that. I didn't think we played particularly well in the first half, but we got better in the second half. In the second half, we nearly deserved something, but we just could not quite get there."
